Meet Chef Tito Alvarado

Meet Our Chef! : Tito Alvarado

Venuti’s Italian Restaurant And Banquets is proud to introduce to you our renown chef Tito Alvarado. Our Venuti’s family is proud to have such a great chef with the culinary experience and Italian cuisine background that Tito has. Learn more about why it’s such an honor to have him and why our restaurant guests keep coming back for the food…

Chef Tito Alvarado

Chef Tito grew up in a small town in Ecuador called Azogues. He grew up with 2 brothers and a sister and a father that had culinary experience in Greek Cuisine. Although Chef Tito loved his father’s cooking, his passion was in Italian food, specifically authentic old world style Italian food.

After living in Ecuador for most of his life, he decided to go to culinary school at the New York Institute Of Culinary Education where Tito spent three years learning his craft. After attending school, he began his dream of becoming a Chef at the highly famous Portobello restaurant in Manhattan, NY. Under the guidance and mentorship of Chef Giovanni Trotony, he learned the ins and outs of the worlds oldest Italian recipes and the secrets to the most famous Italian dishes in the world. Many of these recipes are served daily at Venuti’s such as the famous homemade lasagna.

After Chef Tito’s stay at Portobello, where they serve a strong Sicilian style influenced Italian menu, he then moved onto Postino in Manhatten where the menu is influenced by a more Roman style of cooking. It is known as one of the most luxurious dining experiences in New York City. There he developed and discovered his very own style of Italian cooking and moved to Chicago with his family after a 3 year stint.

Chef Tito arrived in Chicago with his 3 kids and his wife and ended up at Venuti’s three years ago.

Why did Chef Tito Choose Venutis? – Tito met the Venuti’s family and was extremely impressed with how the three kids ( Frank, Alex, Maria) run the business. He says that he felt the warmth of the family environment and that Venuti’s had hired really good people to surround himself with. It had all the making of success even before he arrived. Chef Tito also mentions that he liked the way Venutis was a 24//7 operation and the owners were always here to take care of the guests. The entire facility here houses not only the restaurant and banquets facilities, but they also have an entire laundry mat downstairs, 2 professional kitchens, in house technology to make all the homemade food, offices, and many other banquet hall facilities that most restaurants do not have access to. “It’s Very Spacious!”, says chef Tito.

Who Influenced You The Most in Your cooking?

Chef Giobanni Trotony from the Portobello restaurant in New York influenced Chef Tito because he taught him creativity and confidence in his own food palette. Chef Tito remembers Giovanni saying, “When you are cooking, you can create anything you want. Nothing is in the “book” ” Chef Trotony was in his 60’s when chef Tito was under mentorship but what he learned was priceless. The recipes and experience that was taught to him came from hundreds of years of trial and error in Italian cooking. Many of the secrets were passed to Chef Tito.

Chef Tito has learned to be creative and to have confidence that he can create any culinary masterpiece with any type of food. this free reign has allowed him to recreate the banquet hall menu to one that is infused with many different styles and regions of American and Italian food. Some of the dishes that are showcased in the banquet meals are:

All of the food is prepped and served fresh daily. NOTHING IS EVER FROZEN and is evident by the quality of food!

Chef Tito's Recommended Dishes

Chilean Sea Bass

This Sea bass is like non other. It’s large in size and is the freshest Sea Bass in Chicago. Chef Tito drizzles the Sea Bass with a homemade secret sauce that balances the flavor perfectly. This one is a treat!

All Pasta Dishes (Lasagna)

One of Chef Tito’s favorite is the homemade lasagna. This recipe was passed down from his mentor, Giovanni Trotony. Many say this is the best lasagna they have ever had.

Top Choice Ribeye

This is an amazing cut of beef and very juicy and tender. The steaks are all aged at 28 days exactly before being served.

Top 4 Things Tito Attributes To Venuti's Success

All of the food made at Venutis is made daily, its fresh and never frozen

Venuti’s is proud to provide our staff with the finest technology in the restaurant industry to produce the freshest food faster than anywhere in the world.

Chef Tito loves working with the finest fresh fruit, veggies, and top cuts of meat. The food is fresher, crispier, and the overall eating experience is memorable.

Family is everything at Venutis. Without family, our restaurant and banquet hall wouldn’t be what it is today. We all take pride in keeping each other and our customers happy 24/7. Our reputation is extremely important to us.